Bruce  Fein was deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan and is author of "Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy." He said today: "The NDAA proves that a people of sheep invites a government of wolves."



very ROUGH notes from the interview. Please listen to the interview. This is just an incomplete tease. 
National Defense Authorization Act. NDAA

Bill was not subject to any hearings.
Entirely the child of the senate and house armed services committees.
An unprecedented intrusion.

Rob: Doesn't that play into posse comitatus?  
Bruce-- not quite because it says that unless congress provides otherwise, the military has no business doing anything in civilian law enforcement.


It is being used to destroy what we are as a republic and as a nation.

The reason why the US exists at all is to procure the inalienable rights to the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The government must prove that there is really strong evidence that we should encroach on our liberties.

Post 911 the vast majority of our terrorism cases are conspiracy cases.

This NDAA is simply another symptom of presenting a danger that

It enables the military to detain you or me without being charged with any crime.
You can't defend against the charge because you're  not charging you with anything.
That was the definition of tyranny 800 years ago-- going back to the Magna Carta.

This is bi-partisan 93-7 in the senate, equally lopsided in the house.

This is not the United states that I grew up with.

The individual is the center of our constitutional solar system.

We cannot reduce the risk of another 911 to zero.
Noone can get so low.

Turning us into into the kind of nation we rebelled against

Do you really think it's to make us safer?

The great irony of the empire builders is it makes you less safe.
The government looks as everyone as a potential traitor.

"A people of sheeple get a government of wolves."
Edward R. Murrow.

The Psychology of Empire refers to a cluster of principles or starting points in thinking about your country.
It's the quest for a risk-free existence is the over-riding idea, anything that makes safety, no matter how much it destroys separations of power, liberties.

When you are trying to be risk free you have to have secrecy. So secrecy is one of the earmarks of empire.

The greatest earmark is the denigration of due process-- don't rely upon anonymous witnesses. Due process has been totally destroyed-- this act is one example of that -- you get detained for LIFE? Without even a trial?  Due process is mankind recognized that you can get it wrong...

Permanent state of war-- live under an architecture of war and post 9/11 that's where we are. " it becomes planet-wide-- the battle is everywhere-- permanent, perpetual, planetary war.

All the concentration of power is accumulated in the executive branch.

In my book, American Empire before the fall--

Obama is driven more by the political culture than by...

Ron Paul is the only candidate who has any idea of...
He is one person I would trust in the presidency.

Congress wants to give away its power.
Congress just delegated it's decision to the president.

The invertebrate branch is what I call it.

It's the congress that wants to run and escape from responsibility.
They don't even exercise their treaty perogatives. That's how we got into the world trade organization.

The occupy movement is commendable. like the tea party in recognizing that there's something rotten...

Erik Holder? I would give him a grade of an F. He has not fought to protect the rule of law. If I was Attorney General I would have resigned long ago.

Going to war against LIbya was a total violation of the constitution.

Holder has totally defaulted in defending the constitution.

In terms of liberty Holder is the worst.

What do we do?

There's no magic formula. We're talking about the symptoms of a compromised, debased political culture.
We have reduced ourselves to an adolescent or infantile society driven by
sex, money power and domination vs an adult society motivated by virtue wisdom and magnanimity.
We need to start with education.

People care more about who wins the superbowl or American idol and things that are of concern to children.

I have an optimistic view. History does record that a small group of people, like our founding fathers... where empires did succumb to a relatively small group of people, who won the future from the precipice of tyranny.

We don't want to paint


due process
individual rights,
celebration of liberty
individual as the center of the universe.

The goal that government has is not to grow bigger. Our constant concern in assessing government is "Is it promoting individual liberty?"

Rob: What do you think of an amendment to end corporate personhood?
I have no objection to geting rid of  corporations in toto.
Corporations encourage excessive risk taking.
Corporations exist to reduce personal risk.
So I would be happy to see corporations eliminated entirely.